Online Safety

Safety on the Internet

The links below are organized into four sections.
1. General Online Safety
2. Children, Teens, Parents
3. Identity Theft
4. Reporting Internet Crimes

General Online Safety

  • Be Smart Online - What to watch out for & how to stay safe, tips from the Federal Trade Commission. Everything from how to get less email spam, to how to deal with cyber crimes.
  • Digital Estate Decisions - what do you want to happen to your accounts if you die or are unable to care for them yourself?
  • Fact Checking - How to check for truth and lies online.
  • Internet Shopping Safety - Avoid problems & scams with advice from the California Attorney General's office.
  • Phishing - Information from the Federal Trade Commission about this common form of internet fraud.
  • Use the Best Password Ideas - Understand more about password safety. From Consumer Action.
  • Using Public Wi-Fi - Stay safe while using public wireless internet in the library and other places.
  • Safety Tutorial for Internet Newcomers - Get the big picture with this tutorial. It's simple and features good advice (especially about passwords!). From LearnFree dot org.

Children, Teens, Parents 

Identity Theft

  • Identity Theft - Steps to protect yourself, and to recover from having your personal information stolen, from the Federal Trade Commission.
  • Identity Theft Resource Center - This nonprofit, a Better Business Bureau accredited charity, provides free help to victims of identity theft. The site also offers prevention tips, convenient form letters, links to forms, and examples of current scams.
  • Medical Identity Theft - Tips and details on this specialized form of identity theft, from the World Privacy Forum.

Report Internet Fraud, Identity Theft, & Cyber-Crime